As we continue this week with our brief study of the kingdom government of God, we will consider democracy's place in that government. Of course, many great teachers who have had a vision of the coming kingdom have stated that there will be no democracy in the kingdom because the people will not rule in it, the Lord will. This argument certainly has a lot of merit to it, but there are other factors that we need to consider.

Democracy was born out of the church, which was one of the great contributions of The Reformation that certainly released great light into the world. Everything in this age, even the best governments, will be flawed, and at best be revealed in part. Certainly, a kingdom by its very definition is not a democracy, but there is no reason why a more pure form of democracy could not be a part of the kingdom government, especially when one of the most basic purposes of the kingdom will be to bring unity and peace to mankind. Of course, peace can and will be imposed, but unity is something that must be worked out. Democracy forces people to work together and work things out.

There is no question that the Lord will be the ultimate Authority in the kingdom, and He taught quite clearly that the faithful, overcoming, saints of this age will rule with Him in His kingdom. However, democracy on some level can be one aspect of how He is going to rule, and it is not in conflict with His authority. For example, as the present leader of MorningStar, I often have councils from different departments get together and work out issues or plans, and then bring me their conclusions. I may tweak these conclusions a bit, but in general I know when that kind of effort and input has been put into something, there is going to be a personal ownership in it which will encourage them to do a better job with it.

Two of the basic reasons for which He created man were to cultivate the garden and have dominion over it. For God to have created man to cultivate the garden implies that the garden was not complete without man's input. It also needed man's leadership to continue functioning properly. The basic image of God that we were created in was to be creative, and we can expect that the work He gives us to do and His government that He implements through man will leave room for human input and creativity. There is a basic characteristic of the Lord that requires this, which is, "…where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty" (II Corinthians 3:17).

In the Garden, much of the fellowship that God and Adam and Eve had was around how man's creative input was added to God's in his cultivation of the Garden. This is why the Lord had man even name the animals. He was delighted in Adam's understanding of His creation and in Adam's input into it. One of the basic characteristics of God that has most tragically been lost by the church is creativity. Who should be more creative than those who know the Creator? Christians should be the most creative people on the face of the earth, and will be before they will ever be able to fully reveal Him.

How can democracy be a way in which mankind takes dominion over the earth? Of course, to some having dominion and a democracy are not reconcilable, but they are in an ultimate sense. As the earth is restored and mankind is restored to the basic purpose of taking his dominion over the earth, expecting each to have realms to have dominion over, there will be a place where these realms interface. Councils will need to be convened for the purpose of working out matters that concern two or more realms. The Lord, who is omnipresent, could reveal and impose His will on every matter, but He wants His people to learn to work together and to do their part in ruling.

We need to also consider that a form of democracy in the kingdom where matters are brought to consensus will be different from even the best that we have in the world now. In the kingdom, we can expect that conclusions and a consensus will not be sought for selfish purposes, but truly for the purpose of the common good. It will not be that we have to work together as much as we get to work together.

Again, in this age we see in part, know in part, and prophesy in part. Even the best of what we can build in this age will only be a part of what it can become in the kingdom, but democracy can also be a reflection of what is to come. Therefore, if we are going to ever see the whole picture, we must learn to put the different parts together. I have studied many different and seemingly conflicting types of church government, but have learned not to throw any of them out yet. Even the most ruthless applications of some of these in this age, such as communism, have some biblical roots and precedents. There are at least aspects of every one that have merit and often help to fill the holes in the other ones. Unchecked capitalism will lead to tyranny, and unchecked socialism will lead to lawlessness.

Tolstoy began one of his great novels with a profound statement, "Every happy family is alike, but every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." It may be a bit of an over-generalization to say that every happy family is alike; however, after first rejecting this statement, but considering it for over forty years now, I have come to the conclusion that it is basically true. There is a simplicity to what is good and true and what works. Likewise, one of the most basic inroads of evil seems to be the over-complicating of matters.

We also must consider that democracy may be the best form of government devised for reigning in evil times, but the government of the kingdom will not be so concerned about controlling the power that corrupts people, but will be far more concerned with simply doing good. Even though we may now think that democracy tends to far over-complicate things and make governing inefficient, it could be seen as a vehicle that helps simplify issues when people's motives are different, as they will be in the kingdom.

My point is that democracy was born out of The Reformation. It was the direct result of the revelation that the just had to live by faith, and therefore righteousness or right standing with God was the result of personal faith in God, not just membership in the institution of the church. This gave infinite value to the individual, and at the same time seriously eroded the dominance of the institution of the church that had ruled by reigning over the kings of the earth with such an iron fist for over a thousand years.

Now it seems that the Lord will begin the rule of His kingdom with an iron rod, but certainly His goal is for mankind and the earth to be restored to its original purpose and purity. He wants mankind to mature in spirit to the place where it can again have dominion over the earth, and He can return it to the Father as it was originally intended to be. At best, we see in part or through a darkened glass all of the applications of how this will happen. Something that was so powerfully born out of a great move of God, like democracy was, I think must be considered to have some part to play in preparing the highway for God and His kingdom, which would also give it some place in His kingdom.

Choice is essential for true worship or true obedience. That is why the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was put in the Garden. There can be no true obedience unless there was the freedom to disobey. There can be no true worship unless there is the freedom not to worship. Otherwise, the Lord would have done much better to just have created the computer and programmed it to be obedient and to worship Him. But how shallow and meaningless would the worship be of something that had no choice but to worship? The Father is seeking those who will worship Him in spirit and in truth, or from their heart (spirit) because they know Him as He is (truth).

I have many friends who have been so hurt by democratic forms of church government that they never want to go back there again. These are the ones who most vehemently hold to the belief that the kingdom will not be a democracy, but a kingdom in which the King rules. I can understand this, and agree that the kingdom will be a kingdom and not a democracy, but I can also see where democracy will have a part in the kingdom. These are the key words here—we see in part and know in part. This means also that we should be careful not to overshoot our conclusions. Almost everything we do now will be far from perfect, but at least part of it has merit, which is what the Lord said in Jeremiah 15:19:
 

So what is my conclusion? We need to walk in the humility of knowing that we only see part and know part. We need to be able to examine the different forms of church government for those parts that are working and can fit together with parts with those from other forms of government.

At this time, it does seem that democracy applied to church government thwarts progress and stymies initiative. However, this was not always the case. When it was first applied to church government and the members of congregations were empowered and given responsibility after being under an autocracy for so long, it fueled one of the most significant moves of God in history because the people were so energized with their part.

We are in a day of great churches breaking out all over the place. Mega churches, which were unheard of just a couple of decades ago, are now common. Many of these are having a great impact in their community, and because of their resources, are used to birth great missions that are touching the nations. This is definitely a good thing, but we are yet to face what may be a huge weakness in them. Most are led by a single charismatic leader. What will happen to them when he or she dies or falls?

We are living on and seeking to restore the property of one example of this. I spend some time almost every day seeking to understand what enabled that ministry to grow like it did, and what caused it to fall apart like it did. I have been very surprised to find so many of the seeds that are now some of the great things happening in the body of Christ were first sown at Heritage USA, or PTL. Looking back, it is also easy to see the seeds of major problems and even destruction that were also sown in it.

Every time the Lord plants wheat, the enemy comes along and plants tares "in the same field." We also know that for a time the Word of the Lord is to let them grow up together. We need to consider Matthew 13:37-41:

At the end of the age, the harvest, we can expect messengers to come who will gather up the tares and burn them and gather out of the kingdom all stumbling blocks. There will be a time when these are no longer allowed to grow with the good seed. When this starts to happen, we know that the kingdom is certainly near. We are taking the time to examine this in some depth because it is the time.